See the above photo? Remind you of anyone? Let’s face it: Many of us have used a cell phone while driving. In fact, an...

Legislation that would ban hand-held cell phone use while driving failed to go anywhere this year in the Georgia General Assembly.

See the above photo?

Remind you of anyone?

Let’s face it: Many of us have used a cell phone while driving.

In fact, an estimated 11 percent of drivers at any one time are using a cell.

But such “distracted driving’’ is dangerous. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says nearly 6,000 people died in crashes in 2008 involving reports of distracted driving. NHTSA also estimates up to 30 percent of crashes nationally are at least partly linked to distracted motorists.

Distracted driving, though, is just one factor in highway deaths.

The number of motor vehicle fatalities has been dropping, both in Georgia and nationally, due to factors such as increased seat belt use. Yet with about 33,000 U.S. highway deaths per year, traffic safety is a largely unrecognized public health problem, says Jacob Nelson, director of traffic safety policy and research for the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Motor vehicle accidents claim more lives than any other kind of transportation accident, yet no federal system exists for enforcing safety standards. Regulations have been left up to states, which have been both inconsistent and resistant, according to a recent investigation by News21 and the Center for Public Integrity.

States have a hodgepodge of laws. A North Dakota teen, for example, can get a driver’s license at age 14.

“Some states have motor vehicle death rates that match those in Third World countries,’’ Nelson says.

Georgia’s driving laws and their enforcement are in the middle of the pack among states, says Bob Wilson, director of the Georgia chapter of the National Safety Council. The state has a higher rate of motor vehicle fatalities than the national average.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has a higher rate of motor vehicle deaths than most other developed countries, Nelson says.

Crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 through 34.

Distracted driving concerns have recently increased due to media reports and advocacy work. The latter includes a grass-roots group, FocusDriven, a nonprofit formed by Jennifer Smith, who lost her mother in 2008 to a distracted driver.

AAA’s Nelson cites a 2010 poll that found 52 percent of Americans say driving feels less safe than it did five years ago, up from 35 percent feeling less safe in a 2009 poll.

Georgia’s Legislature last year took a step against distracted driving by approving a bill to ban text messaging while driving.

The fight for the legislation was led by the family of Caleb Sorohan, 18, who died in a Morgan County accident while texting. The family lobbied the General Assembly hard in the wake of Sorohan’s 2009 death.

“We wanted to try to keep it from happening to another family,’’ says Caleb Sorohan’s mother, Mandi Sorohan.

The family also wanted to include a ban on talking on the phone while driving, she says.

A bill to ban handheld cell use quietly died in the Georgia General Assembly this year.

Hands-free phones are not safer, says Wilson of the National Safety Council. “The conversation is the distraction, not the phone,’’ he says.

Wilson says Georgia’s driving laws include some strong measures, such its motorcycle helmet requirement. Motorcyclists’ deaths jumped by about 25 percent in Florida after the state weakened its helmet law, AAA says.

The state has a moderately tough teen driving law, Wilson says, with a ban on cell phone use, a limit on passengers, a full seat belt requirement and a curfew. The restrictions aren’t as tough as other states’ laws, he says.

And the General Assembly did ‘’a very good thing’’ this year by requiring a car booster seat for children up to age 8, he says.

Andy Miller

Andy Miller is editor and CEO of Georgia Health News

KAREN M . WILLIAMS

CALEB WAS MY GRANDSON , PLEASE DON’T TALK OR TEXT WHILE DRIVING .THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE. CALEB WAS OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD .HE WAS A VERY LOVING YOUNG MAN , HE WAS ALWAYS SMILING . HE WILL BE MISSED THE REST OF MY LIFE AND HIS PARENTS AND BROTHER AND SISTER. LIVES. THIS DECEMBER 2011 IT WILL BE TWO YEARS , IT STILL SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY . THE PAIN NEVER GOES AWAY. PLEASE TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN AND FRIENDS.1

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Georgia Health News is a nonprofit, independent news organization devoted to covering health care in the state. We are serious about our independence and are not affiliated with any political party, special interest organization or activist group. Our mission is to help fill the widening gap in media coverage by providing crucial information about health care in Georgia. GHN has received 501c3 status from the IRS.